Optical fibers constructed of plastic or glass are being increasingly relied upon for the transfer of light signals. There are many situations in which an optical fiber becomes broken and it is not practical to replace the entire fiber so it is necessary to effect a connection between the broken ends.
One technique for effecting connection between two fibers or between the ends of a broken fiber is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,584 to John Gresty. According to this patented technique, the cladding and buffer are removed from the end portions of the fibers to be innerconnected leaving an extent of bare fiber. A contact consisting of three cylindrical pins arranged with their peripheral surfaces in contact with each other form an interstice within which the bare fiber is held. A three-pin contact of this kind holds the fiber in the desired manner without producing undesirable torque on or compressing the bare fiber to any significant extent. Portions of the contact are crimped on the fiber cladding immediately adjacent the bare fiber portion which secures the fiber against longitudinal movement within the contact.
In mounting the fibers within the contact a necessary preliminary step is to face off the end of the fibers at very precisely 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the fiber and locate the facedoff end slightly recessed from the three-pin contact ends. A pair of the fibers arranged in a corresponding set of contacts are then located in an alignment bushing with the ends of the two sets of pins in contact with each other which locates the two faced-off fibers in a slightly spaced relation. Arranging the faced-off ends of two fibers slightly spaced and aligned is considered essential to achieve the optimum in signal transmission across the junction without risking undesirable torquing or stressing of the fibers.
It has become accepted practice in the past to face-off a fiber prior to mounting within a contact which necessitated handling the cleaved fiber in a very careful manner to prevent it becoming broken or the very precisely cleaved off end face from being damaged in some way and thereby reducing or totally impairing the ability to transmit an optical signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,452, to M. Balyasny and W. Lovell, assigned to the same asignee as this application, discloses an excellent technique and apparatus for cleaving an optical fiber within a three-pin contact. Although this application discloses a fully satisfactory cleaving technique, it still leaves the cleaved fiber subject to possible damage during subsequent assembly into a contact.